Panorama used to be the pinnacle of investigative news reporting. We did not see those giddy heights scaled in this week’s program on the Glazers. Although I very much liked the allusion that our American owners look somewhat like garden gnomes, it was definitely cheap television. Richard Dimbleby must be spinning in his grave.
What the program did do quite positively was harpoon some of the rubbish that has been in the papers of late. Headlines such as ‘Red Knights Doomed’ and ‘Bid Falters’ have been doing the rounds and there can be little doubt these originate from the American’s PR manoeuvrings.
As far as I can see the situation has not changed, we simply have a little more information about it. More specifically it is now clear the Glazers are indeed broke and that is why they are ripping us off.
What they are doing is the equivalent of paying off one credit card debt with another’s balance, our balance. Personally if I were in a similar financial mess I would sell off an asset, e.g. a car, in order to service my debts. The Glazers appear to be too greedy to do so.
The message from the lawyer was most chilling; “They are businessmen and will not give in.” I would suggest that we must meet such determination with similar zeal. Fergie said after the 2008 Champion’s League final, “we had a bit of a cause, and people with a cause are difficult to barter with.” That is precisely the position we are in now.
Again, it is imperative that we hit them in the pocket. I would urge all United season ticket holders not to renew and all fans to abstain from official merchandising for the time-being. These parasites must go.
Many of us will feel that with no immediate pay-off our efforts are in vain. I would like to remind you of the story of the Wright Brothers. They were told that flight was impossible, that greater men than they had tried and failed to get man airborne. They did give in; they kept going and believed in their vision. The rest is history.
I believe in Manchester United, I have a vision of us as a fan owned club in the near future. Do not give in.
Photography courtesy of FadderUri at flickrCcoms.com
Mark is reporting on the World Cup for the Abc and you can follow him on twitter here or at TheDevilinMe
Comments
 |
Posted by Franco Mizzi on 06/11/2010
I like the most of Manchester United diehards do not like the current situation one single bit but I also dont agree with what you have been doing as this has undermined the club more then the Glaziers Financial mess. Indirectly & unwittingly you have I sincerely believe put insecurity in our players head and if this continues we will see more players like Vidic who want to jump ship. Remember the once might Juventus and not so far away from home Liverpool well these two teams are a perfect example of how once you start slipping it's not easy to get back up the ladder and we are still reletavily strong thanks to one man, SAF. I am sure there is another way besides ridiculing the club & most importantly the Team. No one wants to buy damaged goods, keep that in mind. Come on you REDS, forever.
|
Posted by CroneKills on 06/11/2010
In other news, I watched the 05-06 season review yesterday, and say close to the end of the video someone who was THEN holding up a sign that read LOVE UNITED
HATE GLAZERS
Posted by Raizzen on 06/14/2010
It would hurt to see United falling down the pecking order like Juventus or Pool for that matter. But if that shall sustain the very existence of the club, lets do it.
What good does temporal well being brings if we're living in a borrowed time. It might not be the best of solution but from the way I see it, for the time being, it is THE ONLY solution.
Its gonna be hard, its gonna be painful but nobody said it was easy. And I would rather trust on the Reds' 'bouncabackability' than taking chance.
Posted by andre kamya on 08/28/2010
feggy 4 ol y cn say abt him hz failed 2 manage the midfield of utd. he dreams tht 35 yr old scholes cn win hm the champion league! he buys lots of strikers bt lives the midfield begging
| |
Post your comment |
|
|
Mark Payne writes about football for a variety of media outlets. He reported on the 2010 World Cup for Australia’s ABC network and worked at one of the FIFA fan sites. He has been ESPN’s Manchester United correspondent for four years. His writing attracts a worldwide following and in 2011 this blog was nominated for an award. To contact Mark for football discussion e-mail him on markpayne.editor@hotmail.com at any time. He wears lucky socks on match days.
RSS feed